


Between the Darkness and the Light

by Seabo76



Category: Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seabo76/pseuds/Seabo76
Summary: Newly promoted Lieutenant Sebastian Shepard becomes entangled in a bitter struggle between a ruthless Warlord and an enigmatic Matriarch and her entourage that happens to include his possibly psychotic childhood sweetheart and a homicidal Elcor.Oh, and his older brother is destined to become the savior of the galaxy.AU adventures of the other brother Shepard.





	1. Evening Encounters

 

 

 **Location:** _Arcturus Station_

_February, 2183_

Sebastian Shepard, newly minted First Lieutenant of the Systems Alliance Marine Corps, grinned as the beautiful blonde backed into him, seductively grinding her hips to the rhythm of the beat as she wrapped her hands around her waist.

She tilted her head back and guided him to her neck muttering softly in what sounded like Russian. The whole dance floor, heck the entire bar for that matter, had all but disappeared as he inhaled her scent. Lilacs? Yes! Definitely lilacs. For Sebastian, in this moment, Heaven smelled like lilacs.

Taking him by the hand she led him off the dance floor, several of his friends hooted and whistled as she all but hauled him towards the booths lining the back wall. Things were definitely looking up!

She threw herself into a booth, pulling him down with her, and kissed him passionately. Their hands roved over each other before he finally broke the kiss, almost gasping for air.

"Sebastian," she managed.

"Dariya." came the equally breathless reply.

Her hand travelled slowly down his chest onto his thighs as he moved his towards the zipper at her neckline. Her eyes smoldered as she straddled him, all but ramming him back against the cushions.

"Atten-shun!"

The music stopped abruptly and the lights came on as Sebastian became dimly aware of a rather heavily gold braided uniform standing in front of them, at roughly the same time Dariya did, a Gunnery Sergeant, Flag Lieutenant and rather amused looking Corporal flanking him.

"Papa!" She shrieked, jumping up and attempting to both zip up her uniform and come to attention at the same time.

"PAPA!?" Sebastian's voice seemed almost as high-pitched to him as hers as he surged to his feet.

"Yes. Her father." The shorter man glared up at him with open hostility. Even if the shoulder epaulets didn't identify him as a Rear Admiral, Boris Mikhailovich was well-known in the ranks, and not necessarily for pleasant reasons.

"Name and Rank, Marine!"

"First Lieutenant Sebastian Shepard. Sir!" He rigidly held his salute. Eyes planted firmly forwards, focusing anywhere but on Dariya or her father.

His thoughts were going a mile a minute as the Admiral continued to stare at him, mostly alternating between _"Seriously?" "Oh my God," "What the hell?"_ and the ever-popular _"I'm so screwed."_

"Well First Lieutenant." He drew the rank out, making it sound almost like a curse word.

"Would you care to explain why you were groping my daughter like a horny teenager?"

The entire bar was deathly quiet. Sebastian could feel the eyes of every other person in the bar on him. Man, was it really hot or just him?

"Well...Sir...she...I" He stuttered before lapsing into silence. Really, there was no way he could positively spin this.

"For God's sake Papa!" Dariya exploded. "Just back off and let me breathe for once!"

She grabbed Sebastian by the neck and kissed him savagely before he had time to manage more than a startled squawk. She then pushed him back and stormed out of the bar.

"This is not over, First Lieutenant Shepard!" The admiral said harshly before stalking after his daughter, his entourage falling in behind him.

All eyes followed them out before swiveling back to Sebastian as he sagged back onto the couch, head in his hands.

"Mom's going to kill me," he groaned.

* * *

 

 

 **Location:** _Nos Astra, Illium_

_February, 2183_

Heffi'Vorol nar Neekor tried to stop wringing her hands and appear confident as she sat before the Asari administrator. She appeared to be taking a rather long time to read the Quarian girls resume and, so far, Heffi was unsure whether that was a good thing or not.

After another near endless few minutes the administrator finally looked up from her screen, pressing her fingers into a steeple before studying the Quarian in front of her.

"Ms. Nar Neekor," she began in a conciliatory tone. "Baria Frontiers Exploration Division takes great pride in its species equality hiring programs and you definitely have the required qualifications." She paused to collect herself.

 _Here comes the 'but,'_ Heffi thought sadly.

"But there is a problem I'm afraid. We thoroughly check the references and backgrounds of each prospective hire and, I'm sorry to say, given the lack of...communication with the Quarian Migrant Fleet through normal channels and no other verification to go on," she sighed with feigned resignation and spread her hands.

"I'm afraid we must decline."

Heffi stood and stiffly bowed her head before leaving the office. There was no reason to say anything and the administrator wouldn't care anyways.

Still, at least she came up with an original excuse for the rejection. Always could have been worse. Heffi smiled sadly, that sentiment seemed to be a common theme since she had left the Flotilla.

She leaned against the railing and stared out of the vista of Nos Astra. The sun was just beginning to set and the glittering of light reflecting off thousands of high rise windows was almost breath taking. It was a beautiful city but she didn't see any future here. The only real alternative she could see was to become an Indentured Worker and that was definitely not going to happen.

**"Are you tired of the pace of life on Illium and looking for a change? Do you want to see the center of Galactic Civilization?"**

The chipper voice of the maiden on the Holo-Pillar penetrated her melancholy mood.

**"Well book passage now to the Citadel! Come see the wonder and legend that is the greatest station in the known galaxy! Special rates on now!"**

Heffi shrugged, strengthening her resolve now that she had at least a plan. It couldn't be any worse than Illium.

_Could it?_

* * *

 

 

 **Location:** _Citadel Upper Wards_

_February, 2183_

Jahla Korl slowed her stride as she saw the youths lounging against the wall beside the Elevator. Three Earth-clans and two Palavan-clans, all male and all teenagers which, usually, equaled dumb and hormonal. With a sigh of resignation, she resumed walking towards them, her hand resting firmly and affectionately on the shoulder of the Fenris mech padding along beside her.

"Oh wow guys! Check this thing out!" One of the Earth-clan pointed at her at laughed. Jahla immediately designated him as Mouthy.

Mouthy pushed away from the wall and planted himself in the middle of the corridor, blocking her progress.

"It's a bowling ball with legs!"

His companions, now mentally-designated "Ginjak One" through "Grinjak Four," dutifully guffawed. Jahla held her hands up in a conciliatory gesture.

"I want no trouble Earth-clan," she said as sincerely as possible.

"Please let me pass." Her right hand once again dropped to the mech's shoulder and began to tap a soft and steady rhythm. The Fenris beeped quietly as its head began to swivel back and forth, focusing on each boy in turn.

"I *khish* want no trouble *khish* Earth-clan," Mouthy mocked.

 _Oldest insult in the book. Like really?_ Jahla sighed and shook her head. _Always with the breather jokes._

"Ha, very funny," she deadpanned. "Now please step aside and let me be."

Her tone had become much lower and she saw a certain flicker of trepidation in Mouthy's eyes. But he was backed up by his friends and, with all the confidence those with a rather limited intellect seemed to possess, found security in their numbers.

"Nah. I don't think so, bowling ball." He grinned evilly and started towards her, hands raising and curling into fists. "Let's see you roll, Vol!"

Jahla rocked backwards, her arm extending as the violet light of her omni-tool flared to life.

"Katiya! Venji Mok!"

The Fenris surged between her and the boys, it's central orb glowing as a surge built up. Mouthy howled as a bolt hit him in the chest and he collapsed in a heap. The mech's digitized voice roared as it leapt over him and focused on his companions.

Three of them shrieked and scattered but the fourth, a Palavan-clan, actually attempted to stand his ground and suffered a similar fate as Mouthy when the electrical surge sent him flying as well.

The Volus girl crossed her arms as Katiya hunched menacingly, head swiveling between the two boys.

"You have ten seconds to start running before my little friend here gets really frisky."

Both boys scrambled to their feet and beat a hasty retreat. Shaking her head in a combination of mirth and pity, Jahla continued on to the elevator.

Two pairs of eyes, one set red and the other a brilliant cybernetic blue, watched her go.

"Now there's a girl with spunk!" Raik Holdrek laughed as he slapped his companion on the back. She moved forwards with the blow but didn't stumble as she was rather used to the Krogan's exuberance by now.

"Quite," Manda agreed dryly.

"But how do you know it's a girl? All Volus look the same to me when in their suits."

The massive Krogan grinned. "All in the movements. Quicker, lighter on their feet, more elegant in their moves. That and their scent. Scent is, uhm, totally different."

Manda's raised eyebrow, crossed arms and rather amused smirk indicated she definitely did not believe the explanation. He was getting better at reading Human body language.

"Well that and the description her father gave me," he consented. "But I totally would have known she was female!"

"Of course you would have," Manda assured him as she patted his arm. "I never had any doubt of your excellent deductive powers oh great and honorable Battlemaster." She turned and once again began heading down the corridor, giving him a twitch of her head to follow.

Holdrek smiled as he followed her but it slowly turned into a frown as realization dawned on him.

 _Wait a minute...was that sarcasm? She's totally being sarcastic!_ He grunted. _Damn Humans and their nuances._

* * *

 

 

 **Location:**   _Brekkit System, Attican Traverse_

_February, 2183_

Lasiira closed her eyes and wished the pain would stop. The pain killers that the ship's doctor had pressed into her palm after she had been dragged, gasping and sobbing into the med bay did little to help.

Gingerly, she ran a finger along the ragged gash across her throat. Given the horrifically crude nature of the wound and the rather sad lack of decent medical equipment on the slaver ship, it would be a miracle if she was ever able to speak again.

Still, she had almost made it! If they hadn't managed to clamp down the landing struts on the shuttle she would have gotten away. Brekkit wasn't exactly the most law-abiding system, but even they thought poorly of ships firing on each other in orbit.

Captain Ghro had been furious. The massive Batarian grabbing her by her head crest and slashing her throat with his dagger before kicking her repeatedly.

"Fix this filth if you can," he's snarled to the guards. "And throw her in the slave hold. If she survives, we sell her when we get to Omega. If not," he shrugged, "she gets thrown in the food processor."

But Lasiira had survived. Barley. And now here she was lying here. Chained and naked. Listening to the moans and pleas for mercy from the cells around her.

 _Please, blessed Athame,_ she closed her eyes in silent prayer, _please protect and watch over your wayward daughter._

* * *

 

 

**Definitions:**

_Ginjak_ \- A small rodent like creature on Irune that blindly follows the leader of it's pack. Even if the leader runs into certain harm or death. Closest Human analogy would be a Lemming.

 _Venji Mok_ \- Basically translates as 'Stun Protocol'.

 

* * *

 

_And so it begins..._

_A little story background first. It begins a couple weeks before the events of Eden Prime. Sebastian Shepard is not THE Shepard but his younger stepbrother. This story is going to focus on Sebastian and his exploits running parallel to the main story line with occasional merges._

_As far as THE Shep goes, I have played through the game many times and tried pretty much every combination available but, for this story, I decided to go with one of my first playthroughs:_

_Marcus Shepard_

_Soldier_

_Male (obviously)_

_Colonist with some AU exceptions. Father was killed in action shortly after he was born. When the slavers attacked Mindoir Hannah, his mother, survived as did his stepbrother but his stepfather was killed_

_War Hero_

_Paragade personality. Mostly Paragon with a couple exceptions that will probably be revealed as the story progresses._

 

_Thank you for reading and hope you like it so far! Reviews and comments welcome!_


	2. Best Laid Plans

**Location** :  _Citadel, Lower Wards Maintenance Tunnels_

_February, 2183_

Erik Hanssen snarled as he lurched back around the corner, narrowly avoiding the rounds that his target had fired.

"Really Dalin?" He yelled down the corridor. "You actually tried to shoot me?" His eyes tracked back and forth as he plotted a route around the corner and to a flanking position of the containers that the panicked Salarian had chosen to make his stand.

"Let me go! Please!" Dalin was definitely panicking and, possibly, on the verge of hyperventilating given the high-pitched timbre in his voice. "Whatever Barla is paying I'll double it! No triple it!" He fired off another round as the Human surged across his view and hid behind a pillar.

"That's not how it works and you know it Dalin," Erik replied good naturedly. Heck, he was having fun with this! It had been a while since he'd experienced the rush of combat, even something as pitiful as this. He continued the banter as he slipped around the piller and began making his way forward along the shadows of the wall. "If I took your offer I'd be as good as dead. The only thing worse than a dishonest hacker is a dishonest bounty hunter! Now, kindly drop the pistol before I put a round right between your horns."

The Salarian let out a strangled squeak as the last sentence came from directly behind him. Dropping the pistol and slowly turning around he came face to face with the rather triumphant looking pale skinned Human holding a pistol in one hand and some small device in the other.

"Omni-directional speaker," Erik explained, noting his interest. "Definitely comes in handy some times. Come on then. You've got some explaining to do, and I've got a bounty to collect."

Several hours later Erik sighed contentedly as he propped his boots up on the corner of the desk and lit the Cuban cigar.

"It's days like this that I'm glad I wear a rebreather," Barla Von commented sarcastically. "And would you mind not putting your massive boots on my desk Earth-clan?"

The bounty hunter laughed as he straightened up in the chair and dropped his boots to the ground, gratefully gesturing his acknowledgement to the diminutive Volus as his omni-tool pinged, signaling a payment had been received.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you my portly little friend," his eyes glittered as he smiled.

Rapping his knuckles on the edge of the desk he stood to leave. "Now if there's nothing else I will take my leave."

"Well now that you mention it Earth-clan, a certain interesting little...problem has come across to my attention."

Erik was positive he saw Barla's right eye flicker in a wink as he sent a file to the bounty hunter's inbox.

"Turns out a Thessia-clan Maiden with some rather powerful political ties has gone missing in the Traverse. Her mother has spared no expense and is turning to any reputable source that may be able provide information" He spread his arms in an expansive gesture. "And, of course, I'm a very reputable source..."

Erik grunted in sardonically as he scrolled through the document. Standard story of some poor Asari maiden heading out to 'find herself' and ending up 'found' by the wrong type of people.

_Same thing all the time with Asari_ , he thought,  _they might as well be signing a death-warrant with all the preparation these girls are given. Has to be some kind of population control thing._

His eyebrow raised at the names of the mother and family connections. No wonder they wanted her found.

"So," he turned his attention back to the information broker. "Becker? If I remember correctly that's one of those types of planets where you can offload or take on pretty much anything with one exception. So that raises the question of-"

"Why would a slaver be in orbit of a planet that prohibits slavery?" Barla put in helpfully. "Blown FTL relay, according to my contacts. Claiming to be a cargo hauler and placing enough incentive in the right hands to not get the mandatory hold inspection."

Once more clicking on the screen he made a shooing gesture with his hand towards the door. "There. I've arranged to have a temporary delay on delivery of the relay by a couple of weeks. It should give you enough time to book travel and establish a plan. I will, of course, be sending some backup who will contact you at the appropriate time. You should also see that I have forwarded you a rather generous advance deposit."

Erik let out a low whistle as the sum appeared in his account.  _Generous indeed!_

"Now go, Earth-clan. Get that horrific smoking stick of death out of my office!" He returned the one finger salute that the bounty hunter threw over his shoulder as he walked out.

"Good travels and may Cherk watch over you."

* * *

**Location: _Citadel,_  ** _Presidium Residential Ward_

_February, 2183_

Din Korlak, Volus Ambassador to the Citadel and, at the moment, a rather annoyed but secretly proud father, sighed dramatically as he dropped the datapad on the coffee table and regarded his daughter.

"You made the Earth-clan boy wet himself.'" He held up a hand to forestall her outburst of laughter. "From the shock Katiya gave him the report says. Not because he was afraid for his life of course."

Jahla scoffed harshly. "Of course not! Little peek'a deserved every bit of-" She stopped, eyes flicking to her father's as her mind caught up to what she had just said. "Sorry father."

"Understandable," Din waved the apology away. "And I've seen the recordings. So has C-Sec and the parents of both boys which is why you are here, not in a cell, and the Earth-clan and his friends are doing community service work.

One of Katiya's many improvements was a fully interactive video capture system and the faithful mech had recorded the entire encounter.

Din regarded his daughter silently, thinking of the best way to bring up the next subject. No doubt the fiery young girl would be angry as her world, or what she knew of it anyways, was about to be turned upside down.

_All her mothers fault,_  he sighed.  _She was just as prideful and stubborn as this one is._ He missed her terribly even after so many years and he knew that Jahla did as well but it was something they had never talked about.

Until now.

"Jahla,'" he began, hoping his voice was calm and steady given the emotions that were coursing through him at the moment. "We need to talk about your mother. About what she stood for and what her death meant to us and our people."

The girl's breathing hitched and her eyelets flickered but she stayed silent.

"I've told you that your mother died because of a malfunction in her pressure suit that caused a breach but have never told you how it happened. Sabotage. Your mother was murdered. Only three other people know this and now you as well." Again silence. Din forged on.

"Your mother was not happy with the current state of our people's affairs. She believed the Banking Clans had all but sold our future to the whims of the council races and, as a result, we would decline to nothing more than a slave race. Many of us agreed with her but, where we wanted to stay silent and work in the shadows she wanted immediate action and spoke out passionately about it. She became the symbol of Irune's solidarity and they killed her for it."

He sighed, caught up for a minute in those tragic memories, before continuing.

"As far as who 'they' are I have no definitive proof but I do have my suspicions. For now those suspicions will remain with me as you're not ready to know that, yet. Change is coming daughter. You can see the signs all around you. The meteoric rise of the Earth-clan, the growing unrest and hostility of the Khar'shan-clan, rumors of synthetics being seen beyond the Perseus Veil; and still the council does nothing! The galaxy is a powder keg just waiting for a spark and the Volus people must prepare to face the firestorm!"

Din slammed his hand down on the table, startling her, as he wheezed from the exertion of the speech. Slowly catching his breath he jabbed the intercom. "You can come in now."

The door hissed open and a truly massive, ancient Tuchanka-clan male stomped in. His armor was dull greenish brown and pitted by age and weapons fire. A ridge of horns ran along his jawline and his eyes, red and piercing, reflected the centuries he had been alive. Jahla let out a strangled squeak of surprise as he stopped in front of her.

"Din," He greeted, his voice was deep and rumbling. "In honor for what you are doing for my clan I pledge myself to you and your kin."

The ambassador bowed graciously. "The honor is mine Battle master. I have one request of you," Din paused and, straightening, moved to stand beside his daughter. "Holdrek, Battle master and Chieftain of Clan Raik, I ask you to train my daughter and prepare her for what is to come. But, above all, protect her."

Holdrek rumbled in contemplation, sizing her up. With a grunt, he dropped to one knee and looked her in the eyes. "What's your name girl?" His eyes studied her, unblinking, and seemed to bore right through her pressure suit and, for possibly the first time in her life, Jahla felt completely off balance.

"J-Jahla Korl," she managed to stammer out. "I g-greet you Holdrek of Clan Raik and look forward to learning from you." She paused, gaining confidence. "Perhaps you may learn from me as well."

Holdrek continued to study her, the office silent except for the filtered breathing of the Volus.

"Ha! Well done," he finally barked, slapping his upraised knee before rising to his full height so quickly it took all of Jahla's discipline not to scramble backwards. "I like her! Reminds me a lot of Bara."

Din bowed his head in acknowledgement of the compliment to his former mate. "Yes girl, I knew your mother. Had strength Bara did and I was proud to call her Krantt."

_Extremely high praise for my mother?_  Jahla thought wildly. _And Krantt? What did she do to warrant that?_ She was about to ask but Holdrek had turned back to her father.

"I will protect as if she were part of my own clan Din. You have my word. And know that Clan Raik stands by your people when the call comes. Whenever that may be." Slamming his fist to his chest in a gruff salute he whirled and headed for the door. "Say your goodbyes Jahla Korl. I will wait outside."

"Father?"

"My dearest Jahla," Din's breath hitched, brimming with emotion, as he gripped her arm. "Know that I love you with all my heart and believe that you are destined for greatness. Learn all you can from Holdrek. I have known him and his clan for a long time and trust them completely."

Jahla shakily covered his hand with hers. "I will Father," she replied, forcing her voice to be steady. "I will make you proud of me."

Placing his hands on either side of her face he stared into her eyes. The pressure suits made his expression unreadable but she could sense his love and warmth as he looked at her.

"I've always been proud of you Jahla." He sighed as his arms dropped and he flicked his head towards the door. "Now go and forge your destiny my daughter."

Raik Holdrek unfolded himself from a casual slouch against the wall as Jahla left her home. He had spent enough time around Volus to know the mixture of trepidation and enthusiasm in her stride and the almost bursting need to begin asking questions.

"Patience young one," he rumbled mildly with a slight wink. "You will be able to ask away soon enough." He began walking at a fairly quick pace but easy enough for her to keep up without overexerting herself. "We need to make one more stop before heading to the ship. Your father has sent your belongings ahead," He grunted before continuing. "Including that little pyjak of a mech."

'He''s not a pyjak!" Jahla objected hotly. He's extremely useful! You'll see."

The Krogan chuffed in laughter as they reached the CRT terminal. He turned to her as they clambered inside. "Ever traveled Rapid Transit with a Krogan before?" A predatory grin spread across his face as she shook her head. "Better strap in then."

* * *

**Location:**   _Zakera Ward, Citadel_

_February, 2183_

Heffi flinched as the Turian security guard waved his arm at her angrily. "Get away from that display street rat!" he hissed, folding his arms and glaring at her as she moved away from the store kiosk.

"I'll be keeping an eye out for you. If I see you again I'll call for C-Sec!"

The Quarian tried slouching to act inconspicuous as she shuffled along but the enviro suit was so recognizable that she was singled out easily. Heffi could hear the muttered comments and feel the sidelong glances of disgust and it began to smother her.

Almost to the point of sobbing, she ducked into a side alley, immediately leaning against the wall and trying to get her breathing under control. Everyone in the galaxy seemed to look down on the Quarians with nothing but contempt. Why had she thought the Citadel would be any different?

"Well this just will not do, indeed it won't."

Heffi jerked her head up, hand coming to her mask as she took in the scene before her.

Three Vorcha stood in front of her, two fairly standard for their species except for the fairly good quality leather trenchcoats they wore. Their leader was likewise dressed, only the same trenchcoat was pushed away from his thighs, revealing the grips of two massive pistols.

"Can't be continuing on our way when such a pretty lass is clearly in distress, now can we lads?"

Heffi recoiled in horror. She had heard stories of vorcha, most of which involved the viral creatures eating somebody alive. And here she was… alone, and outnumbered.

The leader held up his hands at her startled cry.

"Prithee madam, calm ya'self. We mean you no harm."

Heffi paused, giving him another long look. His chest was festooned with feathers, medals and all sorts of trinkets and a strange triangular hat was perched on his head. All three stared at her with what she assumed were smiles. The leader bowed gracefully, pulling off his hat and sweeping it outwards in one hand.

"Pyke Morell, atcha service, marm.," he stated gallantly. "Colour Sergeant o' the 1st Heshtok Irregulars."

He gestured to the other two Vorcha.

"These two scallywags are Druk and Ruk, my aides-de-camp."

Both heads bobbed in wordless unison. Pyke gave a conspiratorial wink and leaned forwards towards her.

"Few pickles short o' the old jar they be, but loyal to a fault they are!" He said in a theatrical stage whisper.

"Loyal," Druk agreed, his companion nodding solemnly. Pyke turned back to Heffi.

"Now Lassie, can we have the pleasure o' yer name? And what, pray tell, are ye so down about?"

"I-I'm okay," Heffi managed. A polite Vorcha speaking in the strangest Human accent she had ever heard was definitely not covered in her pre-pilgrimage course. "Heffi'Voral nar Neekor," she stated, placing a hand on her chest.

"Bloody 'ell," breathed Pyke as his two companions jaws dropped. "'Fraid I won't do ya the discourtesy of attempting that one lassie." His eyes narrowed in contemplation as he rubbed his jaw. "Uhm, is there a short version? These jaws be definitely not formin' those words, ya' know."

"Heffi is fine." She giggled as the two brothers looked at each other and began repeating the name like parrots.

"And thank you," she said, sniffing and shaking her head to attempt to dry her eyes. "I think you three are the first people on the Citadel to speak to me as a person and not an object of contempt!"

She practically spat the last words out, harsher than she intended.

Pyke nodded sagely, knowing exactly what she meant. Unbeknownst to Heffi, it was in fact the reason why he and his lads were travelling by the back corridors as opposed to the main concourse.

"When was the last time you 'ad some vittles, Miss Heffi?" Pyke asked. "Summat that didn't come out of a tube, I mean."

Heffi opened her mouth to answer, and then shut it again, trying to remember exactly.

"Too long," she said finally.

"Well this will not do then, will it lads?" He declared, slapping his thighs. "Do yah have any plans on what exactly to do next, Miss Heffi?"

Heffi paused for a moment, and then slowly shook her head.

"Well then," Pyke clapped his hands and grinned. "Well I guess you'll just have to come with us then! Me an' the lads will escort ya to a bally more enlightened district o' this station, marm. They'll be judgin' ya by ye own merits. That is, of course, if you shall do the honor o' yor delectable company?"

Heffi was now grinning at this strange vorcha who seemed to be insisting on being her friend. She accepted the offered hand and got to her feet.

"Lead the way, Colour-Sergeant Pyke Morrel of the 1st Heshtok Irregulars," she said, feeling better already.

"Bally splendid, marm! Bally splendid! Tally ho then, chaps!" The dapper Vorcha eyed her questioningly as they began to walk down the corridor, Druk and Ruk falling into step behind them. "Say, have ye ever met a Krogan?"

* * *

**Location:**   _Arcturus Station_

_February, 2183_

Hannah Shephard drummed her fingers on the table and did her best impression of the stern, disapproving mother at the the youg man hunched glumly across from her. All the while struggling not to burst out laughing.

"So did Mikhailovich get there before or after your hand found itself inside his daughters uniform? And, more importantly, what in God's name were you thinking fooling around with someone like that in the first place?"

Sebastian just groaned. "Honestly? No idea. Hell, he could have been there since the beginning for all I know." He grinned sheepishly. "And it's not like we exchanged identicards beforehand mom. We weren't concerned with getting know each other and more concerned with, uhm, well, getting to know each other?"

"No, you definitely were not." Hannah sighed dramatically. "Have you told Marcus yet?" She leaned back and grinned evilly as he shook his head. "Of course, I highly doubt he hasn't heard already! Blunders this catastrophic tend to get around the fleet faster than the speed of light! And often get greatly exaggerated."

Sebastian just sat there with the same sad expression on his face. No doubt flipping between the realities of what his new found infamy would cost him socially compared to what gaining the rather hostile attention of a Rear Admiral may cost his future career.

Hannah watched her stepson in silence. Sebastian had become just as close to her as Marcus had and she considered him her own just as passionately as he thought of her as his mother.

The traumatic events and immediate aftermath of the slaver raid on Mindoir had faded into dull memories best left forgotten by the boys but she could still close her eyes and see the flames and bodies, hear the screaming and weapons fire as the colonists desperately tried to fight off their attackers. The terrified but determined face of Sebastian's father as he gave his son one last hug before shoving the screaming child towards her, slamming the hidden panic room door shut and, armed only with a hatchet and target pistol, roaring at the top of his lungs to drown out the boys cries as he charged up the stairs to confront the slavers that had entered their house.

She mentally shook herself. Best not to travel down those paths again.

"So, where do you ship next?" she began lightly, making it very obvious that the amusement; at his expense, was over. "Big K is laid up for upgrades to the targeting systems for another week before heading out to Alpha Centauri for maneuvers."

Sebastian pushed a datapad towards her. "Temporary reassignment to the Antwerp heading for patrol in the Traverse. Anti-piracy patrols and general flag waving."

Hannah's face creased and she bit her lip in concern as she skimmed over the orders. "Damn. That's out there. Lot can go wrong that far out." She covered his hand with hers and looked him in the eyes. "Well then. We'll have the next week together at least and Marcus should be here in a few days according to his last message" She was about to say more but the strident whoop of the station alarms interrupted her.

"Attention all Alliance Personnel! Report to muster points and disembarkation points immediately! Case Zulu! I say again. Case Zulu! This is not a drill. Details will be provided at Muster and Disembarkation points!"

Both Shepard's launched themselves out of the booth and joined the line of soldiers streaming out into the main corridor.

* * *

Definitions:

Big K-  _SSV Kilimanjaro- Dreadnought and flagship of the First Fleet. Commander Hannah Shepard is the current XO_

Case Zulu- _Confirmed System or Planetary invasion._

Peek'a-  _piece of excrement_

Cherk- _reference to Cherk Sab, god of luck and fortune_

_And another member of our happy little team has been introduced. Originally I had wanted him to be a Turian but decided to rewrite him as a Human as I want to keep the involvement of the "council races" to a minimum. Except for the Asari...everyone loves Asari and, at least in my opinion, they're the most adaptable and diverse species in the galaxy._

_I described Raik Holdrek as resembling Nakmor Drak, pretty much the only thing I liked in ME:A. The idea of a Krogan so old that he has literally seen the rise and fall of his race is both awe inspiring and tragic at the same time._

_As far as Eden Prime there was one major thing that I always felt was kind of a little off in ME1. There is no way in hell that the Normandy would have not sent some kind of signal as soon as they confirmed that the Geth had invaded Eden Prime. I'm assuming here that the Normandy would have launched a Drone towards the Relay programmed to head for the closest military base and start squawking bloody murder as soon as it was in range. They are rather vague on distance and time between systems but best guess estimate would put it about 2-3 days after Normandy's arrival that Arcturus would have been notified._

_Pyke Morrell of the 1st Heshtok Irregulars. One of the most engaging and entertaining Vorcha ever written. Probably the only Vorcha ever written. He was created by Tusken1602 in the series Beacon's Effect and I strongly recommend it. Please check it out on FanFiction.net. It's an awesome and wonderfully written AU._


	3. Lines of Communication

**Location:** _SSV Antwerp, Outward Vector Arcturus Sector_

_April, 2183_

Marcus's booming laughter rolled out of the StellarComm cubicle loud enough to garner several angry looks and muttered complaints from others making last minute calls.

"Seriously Bastion? With Boris the Bear's Daughter? Brilliant!" There was a short pause. "And yes, I had already heard. Of course, the version I heard had you declaring your undying love for her and carrying her off to the storeroom but, yeah..."

"How come everyone assumes I would know who she was?" Sebastian groaned in exasperation. "I've been officially shit-listed by the Brass, or so the rumors say. Bad JuJu Bastion. Just great," He hunched forward close to the monitor. "Ship scuttlebutt is even saying it's because of me that we're still heading out into the traverse instead of fighting the remaining Geth around Eden Prime."

Marcus snorted. "Don't think crap like that!" He leaned back, arms folded across his chest and head cocked at an angle so iconic that it had been dubbed the 'Marcus Move' back on Mindoir. "Half the FF's and DD's in the fleet are heading out! Now, more than ever, the Outer Colonies need to know the SA is there for them."

"Yeah, I guess," Sebastian conceded. "So, what exactly happened and where are you heading now?"

Marcus sighed, his face troubled. "Not over an open channel but," his hands scrubbed his face and Sebastian saw the lines of worry and exhaustion across it. "Things are happening okay? Things that I, well I don't even know where to start. You're going to be hearing a lot of crazy things and rumors in the near future bro. Some of them are complete shit but Sebastian? Remember." His eyes blinked rapidly before a sad smile crept over his face.

Sebastian blinked slowly and nodded. It had been a long time since they had used the blink code they had thought of as kids. Something definitely had his brother spooked. _I've seen death? What the hell does that mean?_

"Attention All Hands! Arcturus Prime Relay is in Range. Initiating Jump Sequence in T minus three minutes."

"Well that's my cue brother," Sebastian pushed himself back from the monitor and reached for the com switch. "I'll see you soon."

Marcus nodded, his eyes hooded. There was anger there, exhaustion as well and... fear?

* * *

**Location:** _Freighter Sad Panda, Unknown Location_

_April, 2183_

Heffi snarled in a combination of pain and frustration as the beam struck her shoulder. She threw herself behind a pillar and fired several pistol rounds at the drone bobbing and weaving in front of her.

"Heff, heads up! Twelve o'clock high!"

The words made no sense to the Quarian and she paused trying to understand.  _My head is up and it's not noon yet, still early morning. Why wou-_.

She yelped again as a rocket slammed into her from above and she was thrown to the floor in a pile of sticky foam. She closed her eyes as she saw a second rocket flying towards her

_Harmless little exercise, my posht,_ she thought savagely _, these things hurt_!

The impact never came and she opened her eyes to see the rocket deflected away by a shimmering biotic field.

The Human girl, Manda, looked down at her with an eyebrow raised as her other arm swung her SMG around and blasted the drone.

"Get up, little one! Move faster!" came the mocking cry from the Krogan as he charged across the cargo bay in a biotic shockwave sending drones toppling everywhere. The last of which was taken out by a well-placed shotgun blast by the Volus who had popped out of cover at the perfect moment.

"Round over," came the VI's chipper female voice as the holo images disappeared and the main cargo bay lights came back on. Final Scores. Total points in round. Out of twenty-five points Raik Holdrek scores eleven, Raik Manda scores ten, Jahla Korl scores four, Heffi'Zorah nar Neekor scores zero."

The VI paused and before again speaking. "Will the crew please direct their attention to vidscreen four. There is news from the Systems Alliance that may interest you."

Heffi glanced disinterestedly, still cursing under her breath at the poor performance, as the ANN broadcast went on about an attack on some Human colony and how some Human named Shepard had become the first Alliance Spectre.

"Fuck!"

Heffi squeaked in surprise as the screen shattered and Manda stormed out of the cargo bay still spewing what she assumed were more human expletives. After a moment's hesitation, Holdrek sighed and strode after her.

The Quarian looked at Jahla, the only other one still in the bay and spread her arms in a questioning gesture. The eyelets blinked as Jahla rolled her shoulders in an exaggerated Human style shrug.

"No idea, Clan-less," she hissed through her rebreather. "But I'm guessing training is over for the time being."

With another shrug, she also left the bay, Katiya trailing along behind her, leaving the Quarian alone in the cargo bay.

About an hour later Jahla Korl stood quietly in the corridor outside the small mess hall debating on whether she should intrude on the hushed conversation happening within. Katya was safely stored in her quarters recharging and she could see their reflections off of the vid screen angled in the corner. It was the second time she had seen this now: The Earth-clan girl curled up and in tears, or near to it, and Holdrek standing beside her, head bent and hand resting soothingly on her back.

"It's okay,  _Satja_. I'm good now" Manda reached up and patted Holdrek's arm, leaning back against his massive chest. "The news just took me by surprise. That's a name from a past that I had hoped was long buried."

Holdrek huffed comfortingly as he brought his other hand up to rest on her head. "You can't hide from the past forever,  _Nisgi_. Eventually you're going to have to face your demons. And I'll be standing beside you." Patting her on the shoulder he swung his head towards the doorway. "So, don't just cringe in the shadows like a frightened pyjak, girl. Might as well come in here." A frown creased his face as he sniffed the air and turned towards the ventilation duct as Jahla tentatively entered. "And you too my little vent crawler. We should all talk."

The grille clanged open and a rather mollified Heffi slipped out almost soundlessly. "S-sorry, uhm, s-sir? I-I didn't-"

The Krogan waved away her apology. "Already buried in the sands, girl. Now, take a seat. You as well, Jahla," he gestured to the other side of the table from Manda and, giving her shoulder one last squeeze, levered himself onto the bench at the end of the table.

Holdrek studied the two girls, hands flat on the table and spread apart. Jahla wondered if he knew what the significance of that gesture to her people but then snorted quietly.  _Of course he did._  In the few days, she had known him she had come to see that he was a master of dealing with others, both wise and venerable. Every gesture seemed orchestrated and planned. It was only when he was alone with Manda did his veneer seem to drop and his true self was revealed.

The Krogan began, head swiveling to regard them both with those immeasurable eyes. "We need to discuss why we are all here, what I expect of you and what you expect of yourselves."

He began with a wave of his arm that encompassed the ship, Manda and himself. "You both know me as Raik Holdrek, Battle master and freelance mercenary. And then there's Manda here."

The girl grinned and touched her forehead before doing a little wave.

"Do not let her appearance deceive you," Holdrek continued, "I have seen her face a Yahg head on and eviscerate him with one stroke of her blade. She is a worthy warrior. And as for Jahla, her mettle has yet to be tested but I have no qualms of having her at my side in the heat of battle. Most people write off Volus as amusements and comic relief not fit for anything even remotely close to physical but I have seen the fire that flows in their veins, fought beside them and shared in victories. Jahla is here with both of her own choice and choices made for her. But we are not talking about them for now. We are going to talk about you." He pointed at Heffi.

"Heffi'Voral nar Neekor, why are you here?"

"Me?" The Quarian girl practically squeaked, her hands twisting nervously in front of her. "I-well-I'm," she stopped and collected herself. "I'm here to learn. From you. To find myself and find something to prove my worthiness to my people." Her voice gained in pitch and strength as her passion began to take hold. "And to prove to others that we have something to the Galactic Community and are not just social pariahs and outcasts! I want to earn my place and fight and, and-" she deflated as the memory of her recent failure with the combat training registered again. "And I need to learn. A lot. From all of you." 

A drawn-out sigh escaped her as she stared down on the table. "I've come to realize that I was very unprepared for my Pilgrimage. All of us are. Maybe it's meant to be that way. Some warped and twisted trial of evolution to ensure only the strongest and brightest come back to the flotilla. It-it's the isolation and shame and that gets you," her voice cracked in raw emotion. "That feeling of constantly being looked down on, shunned and ridiculed for something beyond your control with no chance of changing it. Honestly, if Morrell hadn't found me and brought me to you, I don't know what would have happened." 

She laughed, her tone a combination of derision and sadness. "To think that the first person to feel any type of compassion towards me would be someone that even I would have looked down on. It speaks to his character that he went out of his way to do this for someone he'd never seen before that moment. He gave me hope and a goal and, some day, I hope to repay him for that"

"Well said," the Krogan rumbled approvingly. "I will never judge someone until I have seen their worth for myself. I see potential in you, girl, and I will ensure that you get your chance to see it realized. And on that subject, on to business!"

The holo viewer in the middle of the table lit up with two figures slowly revolving. One was an Asari and the other a Human middle-aged male. Holdrek gestured to the Human.

"Meet Erik Hanssen. Human Bounty Hunter and merc contracted by the Shadow Broker to save one Asari Maiden Lasiira," he pointed to the Asari.

"Now the cover story is she's a maiden of a very wealthy family from Thessia who disappeared while generally whoring around the Galaxy, like Maidens far too often seem to do, and is now the object of an extremely lucrative bounty posted by her mother. I happen to know that story is a lie, but that is unimportant at this time. Manda?"

The Human girl nodded and tossed her head back, swishing the bangs back from her face. Her glowing blue cybernetic eyes looked at Jahla and Heffi in turn.

"We are the backup team. Lasiira has been located on a slave ship near the Human world of Bettik. Erik, with the help of agents already placed in the system, is going to attempt to smuggle her out without raising an alarm."

She snorted. " _When_  that fails, we are going to hit the main docking bay and cause enough of a ruckus for him to make his escape. We will be expecting to face combat drones and the typical scum-of-the-earth type, hence why we have the training scenarios set up the way they are. Our crew can do wonders with holo projectors and gravity fields to make combat sims ultra-realistic."

"Um…" Everyone turned towards Heffi, who was raising her hand. "I don't want to be a downer," the young quarian continued nervously, "but can the  _Panda_  take on pirates? Like, full-on pirates?"

Holdrek chuckled.

"All of us are not exactly what they appear to be, this ship for starters.  _Sad Panda_  would appear to be just a worn-down freight hauler, and not a very successful one at that, but this ship could easily take on a Frigate and probably come out on top without a scratch."

He chuffed at the almost identical head tilts that Heffi and Jahla presented.

"I know, she gets that a lot. Mostly from pirates, and it's usually the last mistake they ever make."

Manda leaned back and folded her arms, a devious grin creasing her face. "Speaking of the crew...they've been busily resetting the cargo bay for another round. And this time we're going to simulate an escort mission with non-combatants. Fun times for all I'm sure!"

Heffi groaned as the crew made their way back towards the cargo bay.

"Oh, and Heffi?"

She turned to see Manda coming up alongside her. The female Human smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Before we begin, I'm going to walk you through what exactly 'heads up' and 'twelve-o-clock high' mean…"

* * *

**Codex**

DD-  _Destroyer_

FF-  _Frigate_

SA-  _Systems Alliance_

ANN-  _Alliance News Network_

Satja- _Krogan for Strong one. Refers to a protector_

Nisgi-  _Krogan for Little One  
_

Posht-  _Quarian for buttocks_


	4. Lost in Translation

**Location:** _Heavy Freight Hauler Gallant Prize,_ Brekkit Orbit

_Exact month unknown, 2183 (assumed)_

Lasiira didn't know how long she had languished in the cells before two helmeted crew members had roughly grabbed her and dragged her into this room. Snow she gasped for breath as the Batarian tightened his vice like grip around her mangled throat and lifted her even further up the bulkhead. She struggled, futilely slapping at his armored biceps as her vision began to go blurry. With a snarl he threw her back to the floor in a heap and whirled on his subordinates.

"Someone had better give me a reasonable explanation as to why we're still orbiting this heathen cursed mudball of a planet or you'll be worse off then this filth!" He gave her a kick in the midriff for emphasis as the two officers cowered even more.

"Captain," his first officer bowed as low as he could, arms spread wide and head tilted so far to the left it was amazing he didn't snap it himself. "We've been assured by our contact on planet that the last part will be arriving within the next two days. Along with a tech who specializes in freighter drive core repair. We will be ready to jump within a week."

The Captain grinned savagely. "For both your sakes it better be or you'll wish you were as lucky as this whore by the time I'm done with you." He waved his arm in a dismissal.

"Now get out of my sight!"

Both of the officers greatfully backed out of the room. As the hatch closed he once again turned his attention back to Lasiira, all four eyes roaming up and down her ravaged body before grabbing her by the back of the neck.

His breath became fast and heavy as he began repeatedly punching her in the kidneys making her gasp in pain. Forcing her to bend over the desk he punched her in the crest, dazing her. As she struggled to regain her senses the Batarian laughed and flipped her over, bending her backwards to stare into her face and expecting to see fear and terror.

Instead the look of pure loathing and hatred gave him pause. This was a person who had not broken, would not break and, given the chance, would destroy him. She sensed his hesitation and her face split in a mocking grin.

With a roar of frustration he threw her against the bulkhead. The maiden twisted around to stare at him, unable to speak but her eyes and contemptuous smirk portrayed it all.

Ghro Xach'fer, firstborn son and heir to one of the greatest warlord clans in the Hegemony, was afraid of her.

"You will pay for that bitch!" Ghro grabbed her and threw her across the room, running across to grab her as she landed, and began to ram her repeatedly against the bulkhead.

The smirk didn't leave her face but Lasiira closed her eyes, content in the fact that the pain would soon end and she'd finally be in the embrace of the Goddess.

"I beg your forgiveness my Lord," the quiet and calm voice made him stop mid swing. Lasiira cracked her eyes open to see the ships doctor standing bowed in the doorway. His head was bent heavily to the left, eyes facing his captain properly downcast but the ones facing her flashing in concern.

"Remember who she is and what we stand to gain by keeping her alive my Lord," he soothed. "She's worth far more to us alive than dead."

Ghro grunted, reason finally grabbing hold of his enraged mind, as he let her drop to the floor.

"You're right Dharem. And forgiven for this intrusion." Ghro regained his posture and rigidly turned towards the smaller doctor who quickly moved out of the doorway. As he tried to pass to tend to Lasiira, Ghro lashed out, claws ripping into the doctor's neck and shoulder.

Dharem immediately dropped to the floor, neck tilted passively as Ghro towered over him.

"I forgave you this time vyrrum but, if you ever interrupt me again, you will wish you'd been treated as lightly as this bitch! Now clean her up!"

His position and dignity assured, the Captain stormed out. Dharem assumed his submissive pose until the hatch hissed closed before rapidly moving to Lasiira's side, making soothing sounds as he gathered her into his arms and carried her over to the bed. He hissed in anger as he ran her omni tool scanner over her body. The physical condition was terrible enough but he was far more concerned of her internal damage.

She stared back up at him, eyes wide, as her mouth formed a word that she would most probably never be able to speak again.

_Why?_

This was the second time the Batarian doctor had risked his Captain's wrath by intervening. First when she had her throat torn and now this.

Dharem's eyes radiated warmth as he brought his hand to her cheek and ran it up to her crest, moving in a gentle way that only someone intimately familiar with Asari would know.

"We are not all monsters like that beast that calls itself our captain," he said sadly. "The Fourth Pillar states that all life is precious and to be revered, even if not birthed by the sands of Kharshan. Strength is to be found through diversity and compassion." He sighed. "Many of my people have forgotten that tenet. But some still follow true ways"

He began humming softly as he administered medigel to her many injuries. As his hands swept across her neck she felt a sharp jerk and heard a small click from the nullifier. Lasiira's eyes widened as she was able to feel the biotic rush again.

Dherem slowly shook his head and, hidden by his body, pointed a finger to the corner behind him.

"Camera. Visual only, no audio. That seems to have stopped working at about the time I entered the room. Such a coincidence and shameful display of incompetence by the technicians." His lower eyes blinked in the Batarian version of a wink.

"Keep the collar on, and your returned biotics hidden. I beg of you for all our sakes. We have a plan to get you out but the pieces are not yet set."

Again the Maiden struggled to sound words.

_Who?_

Dherem patted her shoulder reassuringly. "You will learn soon enough. Now, I'm going to give you a sedative to help the healing. Also, as soon as I leave, the audio system 'error' will be found and corrected."

One last caress of her cheek and he headed for the hatch, turning back as he reached it.

"Remember Spectre Lasiira, walk in the shallows but prepare to face the rolling tide."

As the hatch closed Lasiira's eyes flickered wildly.  _Spectre?_   _He knows!_ At least it explained Ghro's mixture of fury and fear whenever he faced her.

For the first time since her capture a new emotion bloomed. There had always been anger and a burning need to survive but now, in the darkness, she felt something more.

Hope.

* * *

**Location:**   _Transport Azure Bay, Brekkit Syste_ m

_April, 2183_

The Asari child was once again peeking over the seat at him and, so far, her parent hadn't caught it. Erik winked and stuck his tongue out at her. The girl drew back for a moment, eyes wide in surprise, before screwing up her face and sticking out her tongue back at him. He was about to prepare a rebuttal when the child's mother noticed and tssked sharply.

"Ashanti! What has your father and I said about pestering other people!"

The girl rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Most people do not like being stared at and it is culturally considered very rude so I shouldn't do it," she droned in a perfect monotone. Erik smirked, obviously this was a common occurrence.

Any further interaction was stopped by the intercoms announcing they had arrived in Brekkit orbit. With one monkey faced, cross eyed look at the girl and a wink to the mother Erik grabbed his gear and headed for the airlock.

Four very bored looking Human Customs officers were methodically checking the passengers records and belongings and monitoring the offloading cargo. As Erik joined the line they waved the next person forward, an Elcor. The lead officer held out his hand.

"Welcome to Brekkit. Name and travel papers please."

The Elcor drew itself up and turned it's head slightly to look down at the Human. "Feigned politeness: Name is Tresan good sir and my papers are strapped to my left forearm."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "Feigned politeness? Why exactly are you feigning it?"

"Feigned innocence: Whatever do you mean. I am not feigning anything. Sarcasm: You can absolutely believe that I have genuine politeness and would never feign any emotion."

The Humans jaw dropped as he looked at his companions who were staring back at him with similar faces. "Are you for real right now?"

"Absolute certainty: I can assure you I am real. Curiosity: Are you real."

"Okay wise guy that's it!" All four officers moved towards the Elcor, including the guard monitoring the cargo.

With a quick look at his rapidly moving backside, the two cargo handlers nodded at each other and grabbed a large, heavily reinforced storage locker. Grunting with effort they ran it to the cargo lift where another worker waited with a gravity jack. Within thirty seconds the storage locker was out of sight, descending rapidly down the cargo lift.

Erik raised his hands placatingly and inserted himself between the guards and the Elcor, looping widely around the confrontation and coming from behind the guards to look like he had come from Planetside.

"Gentlemen! Perhaps I may be of assistance?" With very precise and calm movements he pulled a badge out of his pocket and flipped it open and closed dramatically. "Bjorn Bjornsson der Eriksson Nikkelsson Esquire of the Interrelation Liasion Interests and Exports Agency." He gave them a stern look. "I trust you've heard of it?"

The guards looked at each other, wide eyed, before nodding slowly. Official looking badge, official sounding name and impressive sounding agency? They were completely taken in.

"Splendid! Now my good officers; I'm sure you know that Brekkit is entertaining a bid to be the next stop of the All Elcor Rendition of Hamlet? Now good Mister Tresan here has come to inspect our facilities. How, I ask, would it look to the no doubt thousands of fans on Brekkit if their rather 'vigorous' customs enforcers derailed the entire production before it even began? It wouldn't be good would it?" He didn't give them the chance to process.

"Of course not! So, in the interests of inter-species relations and the thousands of fans anxiously awaiting his positive review of our beautiful world, I will take him to meet our representatives! Thank you for your diligent service!"

With a dramatic salute he set a course right between the Customs Guards who parted smartly, the rather bewildered Elcor trailing behind him. As they reached the passenger lifts and safely out of earshot, Erik turned towards him.

"Thanks for staying silent. That would have been a lot more difficult if you had objected or tried to be honest. Now, why are you really here?"

"Suspicion: I thank you but I'm not sure if I should trust you"

"Probably not," Erik agreed with a laugh. "But I did just save your hide from getting run in by customs and I'm fairly sure you really didn't want that."

"Resigned: No, I did not. Elcor are not known for subterfuge. Query: Are you partaking in subterfuge."

"Oh you'd better believe it my large friend! Now, given that I saw a rather interesting container being offloaded as you were entertaining the guards and given the fact that Elcor are hardly known for travelling to backwater Human Colonies I'm assuming you are either a smuggler or mercenary."

"Definitely not a smuggler," a voice rasped. The speaker came around the corner, a Volus in a rather beat up looking but heavily modified and bulky pressure suit. "He's my new muscle."

Peering up at the Human he planted his hands on his hips. "Are you here to see the beaches at Konnsgard?"

_Well now, contact!_  Erik bowed deeply. "No but the cliffs of New Oslo are wonderful this year. Erik Hansson."

"Dib Naks. The big lump is Ril. We're your close contact backup."

Erik rubbed his hands together and grinned devilishly. "Gentlemen? This is going to be fun!"

* * *

**Location:** _SSV Antwerp, Inbound Vector Brekkit System_

_April, 2183_

"Well that was positively hostile!"

Lieutenant Aimee Lynn pushed herself away from the bridge communications panel and snorted in disgust as the channel switched off.

"Stupid inbred podunk backwater navy wannabes!" She raised an eyebrow at the quiet snort of amusement behind her and swiveled to face the Alliance Marine standing at attention by the Bridge Access.

"Something you would like to add El-tee?" she said sweetly.

"No ma'am!" Sebastian Shepard snapped to attention but kept the shit-eating grin on his face. "Just agreeing with the lieutenant's tactical appraisal of the local security forces."

"Of course you were Sebastian," the sultry southern voice drifted from the middle of the Bridge as Captain Sonia Vickers also swiveled towards the door. "If that tone were any sweeter ah'd reckon you'd be attractin' honey bees."

The bridge crew laughed as Sebastian drew himself up into a more dignified manner and the Captain turned away.

"Now then, what're we looking at Tacs?"

"Fairly standard system traffic ma'am," the Tactical officer returned as he threw a hologram of the system up onto the CIC plot and pointing to each signal. "One Asari Transport Liner preparing to boost out, registered as Azure Bay. Small sized transport boosting in from the far side of the ellipsis, too far for accurate IFF return, Alliance Navy surplus corvette Flag of Brekkit in standard orbit, Salarian Heavy Ore Hauler Gallant Prize also in orbit.."

He trailed off as his hands flew over the display, flicking through and enlarging the silhouette of the Hauler. The captain, noting his interest, levered herself out of her chair and headed down to the tank.

"Goin' to tell me what's got your boxers all twisted Guns?"

"Well ma'am, the whole thing seems a bit odd. Note the power distributions right here and here?" He quickly highlighted the cross section of the ship. "And look at the estimates of engine output. That things acceleration would put ours to shame! But this right here," his finger pointed directly at the main cargo hold. "That's what 'has my boxers all twisted'." He grinned. "Ma'am."

Sonia frowned as she studied the display. "I see nothin' Guns."

"Exactly!" his fingers whirled over the display and more numbers scrolled by. "Nothing at all! A freighter that size should have a huge mass ratio but this shows nothing at all! Our sensors can't get any reading on the hold which means-"

"Which means the buggers are jammin' us somehow," Sonia finished his train of thought. "Somethin' rather nefarious is happening over there. Shall we get some answers?" She turned towards Aimee.

"Comms, ring up those podunks of yours and ask what they have on it."

Forty seven agonizing minutes and three different conversations later they had their answers. The bridge crew listened as their captain ticked off the facts.

"So here we go kids. Orbital control says it's a system miner." She held up a finger.

"Customs insists it's a converted agriculture transport." She held up another finger.

"Planetary Administration goes as far as saying it's a converted refugee hauler from Eden Prime." Sh snorted as she held up a third finger, mirroring the rather unbelieving expressions of her officers. "Yeah, that one's total hogwash."

"Our esteemed Tactical Officer Burroughs," she nodded to him as she raised another finger, "is convinced our friends over there are deliberately jamming us and the output is a lot higher than our sensors let on. Which means?"

She raised her thumb, her hand now splayed out in front of her as she raised an eyebrow, inviting an answer.

"Slavers," Sebastian growled, voice low and loathing.

The hand closed into a fist. "Slavers," she replied, her voice just as angry.

"Beat to General Quarters! It's time to roll out the flag."

* * *

**podunk** \- hillbillies or backwoods people

_Badda boom. Mic Drop or, in this case, I should say pen drop. Lasiira is a Spectre. *Gasp* Anyone see that coming? Anyways, the fun is about to begin._ _I totally love Elcor. That whole non emotion monotone thing cracks me up. Going to have a lot of fun with good old Ril here. And don't count out his little sidekick Dib Nax either!_

_Total thanks to Tusken1602 at Fanfiction.net for editing and advice! Great writer and you should go check out his work._

_Please Rate, Review and Follow!_

_Thanks for reading!_


	5. We Didn't Start the Fire...

**Location:** _Freighter Sad Panda, Inbound Vector Brekkit System_

_April, 2183_

"Captain," the clipped high-pitched voice came over the ship com, breaking Holdreks concentration. "We may have a complication."

The Krogans head swiveled towards the com just as a shock staff came whirling in and jabbed him squarely in the middle of his chest.

Hard.

He backpedaled quickly to regain his balance, his own staff whirling defensively, as he glared at his diminutive opponent.

"That was rather dishonorable," he growled.

"Complaining already Tchunka-clan?" came the snark reply. Jahla thrust her staff forward aggressively, keeping uo her offensive as she taunted him. "Rather ironic when you're referring to fighting someone who barely reaches your...quad!"

Holdrek cursed as her staff jabbed forward towards the aforementioned body part. He swiveled at the last moment and barely managed to catch it on his hip. The entire leg went numb and he fell in a heap. With a snarl of victory Jahla brought her staff around in an arc to hover above his exposed throat.

"Good," the Battlemaster chuffed. "Now, strike me down with all of your anger and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete!"

"What?" Jahla looked at him in confusion, totally missing his own staff whipping around until it caught her right behind the knees. As she went down with an undignified squawk he scissored his legs in the air and whirled upright, staff now resting right between her eyes.

"You're dead girl."

"Raik Holdrek! If you are quite finished beating up on a girl and quoting Twentieth Century Human Space Opera could you please direct your attention to the screen!"

"Sorry Jaaid'" Holdrek muttered sheepishly as he helped the Volus up. "Great offense and finishing move Jahla but you failed to remember one thing. Always make sure your opponent is truly incapacitated  _before_  you offer mercy."

She nodded as she gathered the staffs to return to the wall.

"Okay Jaaid, show me what this 'complication' is"

The planet of Brekkit and near space swirled into view, details scrolling on the inter system traffic but focusing on two ships in particular.

"I'm afraid our intel on the Gallant Prize was highly inaccurate." More numbers scrolled by as the screen shifted to focus on the transport. "This ship is sporting some top of the line black market sensor scrambling tech but Kaygee managed to crack it."

The upper portion of the ship split apart and Holdrek hissed as he saw the hidden compartments packing both rail guns and missile tubes. "We believe it's one of the rumored Batarian Sand Shark class pocket cruisers. Their newest q-ship designed for slaving and commerce raiding."

"Oh this is so not good," muttered Jahla, coming to stand beside the Krogan. "Things just got a whole lot more complicated."

"And it gets even better!" Jaaid's voice sounded almost irritatingly happy.

 _Possible hysteria?_  Jahla thought to herself.  _Haven't even met her yet, or any of the crew for that matter, but she definitely sounds like she lost it!_

The screen whirled to focus on another smaller ship boosting it's way into the system from spinward side. A dagger shaped silhouette familiar to both the Volus and Krogan.

"This is the SSV Antwerp _,_ Systems Alliance Navy Masada class Frigate with a standard complement of thirty and five Marines. A very rugged and durable ship for her weight class and our sensors show her weapons as cleared for action but she is in way over her head."

"And she doesn't she's about to tangle with a Thresher Maw!" Holdrek spun and sprinted for the hatchway. "Jahla, Armory now and get your robo-pyjak ready. Jaaid, please sound the alarms and prep the old girl for combat. Kaygee, I will need a tight beam to that ship as soon as I get to comms!"

He looked back to Jahla as she also began to move towards the hatch, his eyes gleaming like fire and a maniacal grin splitting his face. "Charlie Foxtrot strikes again!"

* * *

**Location:** _SSV Antwerp, High orbit around Brekkit_

"Uhm Captain? We are being hailed by a freighter designated Sad Panda?"

Sonia quirked an eyebrow at the name and mentally gave Aimee Lynn kudos for managing to deliver that message in a relatively even tone.

"Which one is she?" The Captain eyed the transponders of the few ships clustered around the mud ball of a planet below her. She would have thought she'd remember a name like that from the briefing.

"Not there ma'am," the comms officer inputted a sequence and the holo tank enlarged to include the whole system before settling on the sensor return that had been identified as just entering on the far side of the system. A sensor return that had been too far for accurate readings and therefore impossible to be hailing them. Or so one would think.

"Well ain't that a thing," she muttered, more to herself then the crew. "Well best not to keep 'em waitin'. Let's see what the  _Sad Panda_  has to say shall we?"

At the que from Aimee the captain sub-vocally cleared her throat. "Freighter Sad Panda this is Captain Sonia Vickers of the SSV Antwerp _._ Gotta say that's a mighty fine comms suite you have if you can reach us from out there. How may we be of assistance to you? "

She sat back to wait for the reply and then almost fell out of her seat with a curse as the reply came back within seconds. Equal mutters of disbelief came from her Bridge crew as well. Given the distance involved it should have been at least three minutes for the message to reach them and then at least as long from the reply to come back.

"I greet you as a warrior Captain Vickers! I am Raik Holdrek, current captain of this ship and currently involved in a highly covert mission." There was a pause and they could hear some muffled voices coming through the comms.

 _Holy baby Jesus!_ Sonia's mind practically screamed at her as her jaw dropped and she stared at Aimee's equally pole axed expression.  _This is real time communication!_

"Are your Citadel communication protocols up to date? Send a query search for lack-zero-one-three-three-alpha-romeo-zero-four, code phrase light in the darkness. Please respond once you have confirmation. We will stand by."

All eyes were on Aimee as she typed in the code. Without looking she flipped the query over to the Captain's private terminal. After a few minutes of skimming through the document, Sonia shuddered.

"Well Aimee, we musn't keep the good Master Raik a waitin'."

At her nod Sonia squared herself and spoke clearly. "As there is darkness in the universe there must also be light. We greet those who stand between the darkness and the light and are ready to assist you."

"Pretty deep isn't it," came the reply. "Always loved that quote. Now here's the plan"

* * *

**Location** _Maintenance Shuttle, Brekkit Orbit_

Erik Hansson leaned away from the small display, rubbing his eyes furiously before looking back at the information scrolling across. Despite all his hopes it still hasn't changed.

"Well this certainly falls under the 'not good' clause," he sighed. "We can deal with this. 'May you live in interesting times', good Chinese proverb."

"With conviction: Screw you and your Chinese proverb. Query: Does this change our original plan." Ril definitely looked the part of an engineering tech. A large harness had been strapped across his shoulders that was literally festooned with pockets from which various tools poked out. The back of the harness had two hooks for the anti-grav equipment sled.

"This could work to our advantage," Dib chimed in as he waddled in from the rear cargo compartment, a truly massive looking torque wrench almost as large as he was strapped across his back and carrying a datapad. He waved vaguely in the general direction of the slave ship. "They're going to be rather preoccupied right now. Should help us." He waved the datapad. "And we have confirmation that our backup is in system."

"Well jolly good then. Might as well start this dog and pony show." Erik keyed in the identity code as he lined up the shuttle for final approach to the massive slave ship.

* * *

**Location** _Heavy Freighter Gallant Prize, Brekkit Orbit_

"Report!"

"Yes Esteemed  _Reth_ ," The Batarian Tactical Officer rigidly turned to face the Warlord as the rest of the bridge crew kept their eyes fixed on their stations. Ghro was known to be a firm believer in blaming the bearer of bad news. "Human frigate SSV Antwerp now approaching orbit. They've scanned us and are approaching cautiously but there's so far no indications they know anything other then we're a simple freighter. And a maintenance shuttle from the surface has finally arrived with our replacement parts! They've said it will only be a couple hours before the repairs are complete."

"Good, good." A collective sigh of relief could be heard across the bridge and the Tactical Officer's shoulders visibly sagged. "The sooner we're away from the kra'tash infested planet the better! Tell the escorts to keep an eye on our visiting repair team and prep the slave pens for transit. Maintain a passive lock on the Human ship but don't go active. If they stay ignorant all the better but, if they blink, blow them out of the sky!"

"By your will Esteemed  _Reth_!"

"You are now in Engineering Bay. You will fix FTL stabilizer now, yes?" The slavers thick Russian accent was already beginning to grate on Erik's nerves. "But first we do rules. You stay here. You move to that hatch and I shoot you. You move to other hatch and Mekrem here shoot you. Understand, yes?"

"Sure, whatever." Erik studied the two 'escorts' while Dib and Ril busied themselves laying out various tools and equipment from the grav sled that Ril had dragged in. The one barking all the orders looked like your fairly typical Human Merc scum, picked for brawn and not much else. Mekrem was a tall, wiry, barefaced Turian with a truly horrific scar running down the side of his head and neck. He glared openly at Erik, humming strong subharmonics and practically caressing his assault rifle. Definitely the bigger threat out of the two to deal with once the balloon went up.

Erik clapped his hands together, making Mekrem practivally jump and drawing a raised eyebrow from the Russian before turning to his comrades. "Okay then, let's get to it shall we? Dib, grab the discombobulator and get ready to torque it. Ril, please remove the catalytic converter casing, chop chop we've got a job to do!"

"Discombobulator indeed," muttered Dib as he picked up a random piece of equipment. The Elcor wisely remained silent.

With a nod to Ril, Erik leaned over the grav sled, rummaging through the shelves before straightening and bringing his newly uncovered pistol to bear on the Turian. Before Mekrem could even blink he had sprouted a third eye and dropped in a heap. The Russian had barely enough to register the shot before he was introduced to roughly half a ton of charging Elcor. The result was fatal and messy, extremely messy.

"Nice one Ril! Have you hacked their system yet Dib?" Erik was rapidly strapping on his armor as the Elcor attempted to wipe some of the gore off his fists. Dib flashed a thumbs up as he whipped around the torque wrench, which was actually a heavily modified sniper rifle, and slapped a heat sink into place.

Giving up on cleaning himself with a disgusted snort Ril settled for backing slowly under the grav sled and lifting upwards. With a click the bottom half of the sled separated revealing two massive assault cannons now strapped to his shoulders. Shaking a bit to get them settled, he looked at his companions.

"Menacingly: I'm here to kick posterior and chew Xylitol Extract. And I'm all out of Xylitol Extract. With Satisfaction: I always wanted to say that"

Both his companions stopped and looked first at him then each other.

"Okay then," Erik began slowly. "If you would be so kind to lock down the weapons and send the signal Dib we can go find our distressed damsel!"

* * *

**Location** _SSV Antwerp, Brekkit Orbit_

"Well boys and girls, are we ready ta' poke the bear?"

The faces of the bridge crew were grim but determined. The specs given to them by the Krogan were intimidating to say the least. Multiple GARDIAN arrays, four rail guns per broadside with two more both fore and aft facing and a total of eight missile tubes. Compared to the  _Antwerps_  far more modest armament of a single GARDIAN array, single forward facing rail gun and two missile tubes it was hardly a match at all.

"Have we received confirmation that El-tee Shepard and his squad are in position?" At the Tactical Officers nod she pointed to Comms. "Miss Lynn, open a channel please."

"Freighter Gallant Prize! This is the Earth Alliance Frigate SSV Antwerp. We are getting some conflicting sensor readings on you and my tac boys a just a bit baffled. Pursuant to Planetary Law Code six-four-nine-two subsection three please stand by for a close proximity pass to get an accurate scan and heave to for a boardin' team!"

As the comm closed she strapped herself into her chair. "Strap in kids! Barriers up to full and come to course five-five mark two! Time to earn our paycheques!"

* * *

 **Location**   _Freighter Sad Panda, Brekkit System_

"There they go! May the Ancestors watch over them!" Holdrek grinned as he looked into the helmet visors of his team. They all sat facing each other in a circle, strapped into a reinforced section of the cargo bay.

Heffi, the Quarian who, only three weeks earlier, had been terrified of a simple combat drone but now radiated a sense of calm and preparedness as she steadily returned his gaze with her glowing eyes.

Jahla, totally still and appearing as if this was just another exercise. Only the rhythmic tapping on her loyal Fenris Mechs head belied her nerves.

Manda, eyes closed, breathing slow and steady. She would stay like that until the last possible second, gathering all her strength to unleash her biotic arsenal.

"Captain, our assests have sent the Go Signal. We are now about to microjump. Standby for rapid acceleration in t minus 30 seconds!" Jaaid's voice warble radiated excitement. Holdrek smirked. It was infectious.

"I'm not a big one for speeches so i'll keep it short. You know what's expected and you know what to expect from your team. Stay together, stay safe and we'll be toasting each other in victory by the end of the day. May the Ancestors watch over us!"

With a wail of the alarms the Sad Panda blinked out of existence and reappeared directly to port of the slaver.

* * *

**Location** _Heavy Freighter Gallant Prize, Brekkit Orbit_

The smoking corpse of the Tactical officer was rapidly dragged away from the station as his replacement silenced the bridge alarms and brought up the tactical display. Ghro, still holding his Carnifex pistol, dropped back into his command chair.

"Give me something now!" he snarled.

"Port weapons now tracking the Antwerp and the shuttle it has released Esteemed Reth!" The newly promoted officer said hurriedly. "And we have a freighter that has just microjumped from the edge of the system. Now bearing Mark three-three-six. Port weapons also attempting to lock but," a sense of impending doom crashed down on him as he tried to activate the firing controls. "I've been locked out Reth! We've been locked out!"

With a snarl Ghro slapped the internal comms. "Mekrem and Alexin report!"

Only dead silence came back. "It's the techs! Send response teams to find them now to each access port! Prepare to repel boarders!"

* * *

 **Reth** -  _High Batarian honorific for Captain_

_Well things have definitely heated up. Straight down the rabbit hole we go!_

_Thanks for reading and please leave a review. Would love to hear your opinions!_

_Seabo76_


	6. Let's go to War...

**Location:** _Systems Alliance Shuttle, En route to Freighter Gallant Prize_

_April, 2183_

Sebastian Shepard breathed in slowly and willed his body to be still, especially the rapidly shaking knee as he leaned back against the cabin wall, extremely grateful that the standard Alliance issue Mk6 helmet was polarized for space combat. He rotated his neck to work out the tension knots and to focus on his half strength squad, Command HUD optics scrolling across his visor with their designations, weapons load outs and vitals. He snorted slightly as he saw elevated blood pressure and adrenaline spikes in all of them.

Corporal Baez, the squad engineer, tapping furiously away on her omni-tool as she updated her incendiary and overload routines.

Private Onyumbo, the medic, silent and sturdy. Radiating a cool and calm purpose. Too bad his heart was jack-hammering.

Private Johnson, the sniper, one hand idly stroking the barrel of his sniper rifle as the other flipped the cap of the scope on and off.

Private Avidan, rifleman, head down with her hands clasped and focused on the delicate Star of David hanging between her fingers.

 _Just as scared as I am,_  he thought wryly.  _Probably a good thing. This is going to be our first real trial by fire and we might as well be walking blind into a stone bears den! Better give them THE SPEECH._

"Okay you lousy excuse for apes!" His voice rang out over the squad comm frequency loud, clear and, thankfully, steady. "Our target has been uploaded onto your HUDs. This is a straight up retrieve and extract just like the training sims. We can do this in our sleep boys and girls! We all joined the Alliance for different reasons and come from different backgrounds and religions but there's one thing that we all have in common. We were all too stupid to join the fly boys and ended up as jar heads!"

That brought some short laughs and indignant howls. Shepard had them all now. Time to drive it out of the park

"When we signed up to join and serve! When we overcame some of the most stringent training regimens in the galaxy! When we stood upon that parade ground before the flag of the Systems Alliance and swore to defend her virtues and ideals! When we came to believe that freedom is something that every person regardless of race or planet has the right to live free! Without fear! Without pain!" He stood, boots locking down on the deck plating as he swayed to the rocking of the shuttle. "WHO ARE WE?"

"ASS KICKERS! GRIM REAPERS! WORLD ENDERS!" The roared response came.

The alarm tone rang stridently as the doors flipped open.

"Standby for insertion!" The pilots voice was strained as he began evasive maneuvers. The hull began to ping as small arms fire zeroed in on the shuttle. "Recommendations for our intro?"

Sebastian's head snapped up, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "Bodies?"

"Oo-rah," snapped Johnson as he brought up his sniper rifle. The others rapidly nodded.

**_"Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR!"_ **

They all roared over the external mics as the pilot laughed maniacally, screaming with the others as he opened up on the crowded docking bay with the shuttles lasers. Bodies flew everywhere as explosions lit up the bay.

The shuttle twisted sideways, closed side to the incoming fire as it settled roughly a foot off the deck.

 _"Go! Go! Go!"_  The pilots voice could barely be heard over the hail of incoming fire.  _"Incoming friendlies at your four o'clock! Looks like a breaching pod but damned if I've ever seen anything like it!"_

The marines bailed out and into cover, the music still blaring as they began to return fire. Sebastian, last to hop off the shuttle quickly dove behind a cargo pallet as his HUD updated rapidly.

"Acknowledged! Now get the hell out of here!"

 _"Oo-rah,"_  the pilot replied as his shuttle whipped around and out of the bay _. "Make the Antwerp proud!"_

"Avidan! Cover fire! Baez and Onyumbo! Clear out a patch for our friendlies! Johnson! Do what you do best!"

"Ten-four, LT," the sniper laughed as he popped up and over the pipe he had taken shelter behind and snap fired three shots before ducking down again. Each shot impacted perfectly on the temple of its intended target. Unhinged or not, Johnson definitely had skills.

Arcing an incendiary grenade up and over his position, Sebastian fell back into cover to watch as the breaching pod whirled into the cargo bay. An eyebrow rose as long strips of hull plating exploded off the sides of the hull in a perfect pattern revealing rows of small barrels.

_Are those lasers?_

* * *

Raik Holdrek squinted at the small display. Around the small gyro-sphere the specially designed breaching shuttle pitched and weaved but they stayed perfectly still.

"After this is over I've got to check the specs out on this!" Heffi's voice had a twinge of awe and wonder. Her earlier anxiety now totally taken over by the tech geek screaming inside.

"Agreed, clan-less," Jahla and the Quarian girl had found a common ground in their love of engineering and were quickly becoming friends. "I will join you. This thing is definitely," she stopped as she searched for the right word. "Unique."

"One of a kind, actually," offered Holdrek as he continued to study the display. "Built by a long dead race and found on a forgotten planet." With a grunt of annoyance he pounded the side of the monitor.

" _Serkah_! The Marines have already breached and are engaged in the hanger. Going to bring a whole new definition to the term hot LZ!" One eye swiveled to look at Manda who was still sitting in a lotus position, eyes closed.

"Death Blossom?"

An evil grin spread across the girls face.

"Totally."

* * *

Sebastian's world exploded in a flurry of laser fire as the pod corkscrewed and twisted sending rippling brightly colored bolts whirling in every direction.

His squad screamed almost as loudly as the slavers, ducking for cover. Despite impacting everywhere not a single bolt hit the marines. The same could not be said for their foes.

The pod stopped spinning and the constant stream of lasers finally ended. As it set down a silence descended on the docking bay. The stunned marines stood and stared at the sheer carnage. Not a single slaver even moved and the whole bay was completely torn apart.

"Damn, LT," muttered Baez, completely awestruck by the devastation. "Alliance needs to get their hands on that!"

They all turned at the soft chime and hiss of air as a ramp extended from the pod. First out was a massive Krogan, completely encased in red and black armor and carrying a giant shotgun that the marine doubted he could even lift. Behind him came a lithe Quarian and the round form of a Volus, also clad in red and black, along with a FENRIS Mech trotting along beside them. Lastly was a Human woman, clad all in red. She held a shotgun casually in one hand and not exactly pointed at him and his squad.

 _All close combat oriented weapons,_ Sebastian thought idly as he waited for them to all settle.  _Quarian and Volus definitely Engineers. Human's either a Biotic or Engineer as well and the Krogan is the meat shield. He_ stepped forward. "Well met! I'm Lieutenant Sebastian Shepard, Systems All-." He was cut off as the Human let out a cry of rage and surprise as she brought her arms up. There was a blaze of blue light and he felt himself thrown backwards. He hit a pipe and fell to the ground, dazed, the helmets of his squad followed him as he landed then snapped back to the group in front of them, weapons coming up. The Quarian and Volus had also brought their weapons up, looking at each other and their companion who had fallen to her knees, head down.

The Krogan snarled as he threw down his shotgun and spread his arms wide. "Peace! Please! This was unexpected to say the least. Please, forgive her and we will straighten this out!"

Baez glanced back at Sebastian who was slowly picking himself up. He waved a hand at her to stand down. "It's okay," he managed. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." The squad closed in on him, weapons up and still pointed at the others. Onyumbo grasped him by the shoulder and unpolarized his visor so he could look at him.

"All there, LT?"

Sebastian reached up and also cleared his visor before nodding shakily. "Yeah, I'm okay."

The Krogan and the Human were involved in a very heated discussion, at least he assumed by all the hand waving and posturing as they had gone to internal comms. The Quarian and Volus continued to stand between them, the Mech posturing menacingly as it focused on the Marines.

"Hey Earth-clan," the Volus called out. "You okay over there?" She moved forward slowly, collapsing her Shotgun and striding forward. The Mech let out a electronic whine before following her, sticking protectively to her side. "Cherck has definitely thrown a twist to this meeting hasn't He?"

The Volus laughed, voice highly pitched sounding young and nervous even with the breathing bursts. "Name is Jahla Korl, this is Katiya," she gestured to the FENRIS. "And that's Heffi'Voral nar Neekor. The others I leave to introduce themselves but, please believe me, this wasn't part of the plan."

"No, it wasn't," the Krogan sighed as he turned back towards them, one hand reaching out to help his companion to her feet as the other removed his helmet. "I am Raik Holdrek. My companion here is my clan-daughter Manda. Now is not the time to delve into the past but we will deal with it later. My apologies Lieutenant Shepard."

"Are you guys done making nice now?" All heads snapped up as the heavily sarcastic voice came over their comms.

"Yes, we hacked your comms, and the ship comms, well all comms come to think of it. My companion is a very industrious individual." The voice laughed. "This is Frontline now making proper contact with Linebacker. We are in the lower holds heading towards the crew quarters. Following some 'interviews' with the crew we've determined that the package is being held somewhere near the Captain's quarters, sending you blueprints now."

"Copy Frontline," Sebastian replied. "The Linebackers are moving out." He grinned as he looked at Holdrek. "We'll settle the rest of this later. For now I'll settle with what we're doing here and what 'the package' is."

"Are you aware of our target?" At the Lieutenants head shake Holdrek launched into a brief summary. "We are here for Council Spectre Lasiira Aldatori." Unclipping his shotgun he powered it up and began heading for the cargo lift at the end of the bay, his companions falling in behind him. "We'll take the Cargo Lift, you take the hatch way. Run parallel and we'll converge on the crew quarters from above and below. Frontline should be coming from aft. Anyone with a weapon or looks like they've eaten fairly regularly is a legitimate target. We good?"

"We're good and copy," replied Sebastian as he began moving. "Squad fall in."

* * *

**MEANWHILE:**

"You enjoyed that, Earth-clan."

Erik grinned at the Volus who had stopped, one fist planted on his hip and slowly shaking his head.

"Of course I did!" He replied, chuckling. "That whole thing just went straight down the tubes and someone had to throw them a lifeline."

He consulted his omni tool. "We're going to be skirting the crew quarters now. The next hatch is listed as 'Entertainment Lounge' so we might want to prepare."

With a final head shake the Volus set up against the bulkhead, lifting his massive rifle into a covering position.

Ril braced himself in the middle of the corridor, twin cannons beginning to spin and whine as he prepared to unleash them if needed.

At their nods Erik tapped his omni tool against the panel, quickly overriding the security codes and the door hissed open.

It took him a moment to register what he saw. There was a rack covered with an array of torture implements and beside it a table on which a body had been strapped to. Erik slowly moved into the room, Assault Rifle at the ready, and swept the corners before signaling the others to join him. His eyes went unwillingly to the body lying on the table and he forced himself to look at it.

She was an Asari, dusky blue skinned and was, at least had been, beautiful. Now the abused and torn remains were barely holding together.

"Bio scanner," he said hoarsely, all traces of his earlier mirth gone. "Please tell me that's not her."

Dib scurried forward and waved his arm over the pitiful remains and it beeped a flat tone.

"Negative. Similar structure but age does not match records."

He brought his fingers up to the wide eyes, frozen in agony, and gently closed them. "Find peace in the embrace of your Goddess, maiden of the Thessia-clan. May Cherck watch out for you as you travel beneath the waves."

The Volus clasped both his hands over her head and bowed his head, eyelets whisking closed in a quick prayer. Erik bowed his head as well as his hand involuntarily traveled to his chest and crossed himself quickly in a long forgotten blessing from his childhood.

"With somber deference: I think I've found something. It seems to be a shrine of-"

His words were cut off as his heavy footfalls caused the makeshift shrine to come crashing down. A small oval object went spinning across the floor and clanged against the table leg before stopping next to Dib.

It was a miniature rebreather helmet.

With a strangled cry the Volus dropped to his knees and grabbed it, cradling it to his chest as he began a high pitched keening wail.

Erik numbly moved over to the Elcor who stood, his massive arms trembling, and looked in shock at the rest of the fallen 'shrine'. Small helmets, over a dozen of them.

"I'm so sorry," he managed.

Ril's head swiveled towards him, eyes blinking rapidly.

"With conviction: We need to deal with this now. If they do this for entertainment imagine what they will do to the remaining slaves once we take the Spectre."

"You're right. We need to deal with this." The Human looked at Dib who was slowly getting back to his feet as he continued to cradle the pitiful memento.

The Volus nodded.

"This is to the Captain and crew of this ship. We have just found your Entertainment Lounge. We did not know who you were. We did not care who you were. But now we are very invested. My companions and I have a very particular set of skills. Skills that we've acquired over our careers that makes us nightmares for the likes of you. Consider this a warning. We are coming for you and we will kill you"

Grabbing his rifle he strode purposefully towards the aft hatch.

"Frontline to Linebackers and whatever transport ships you have. We are heading for the main slave hold. If we take the package and run they are all going to die, horribly, and I- and we cannot have that on our conscience. I'm asking your ships to reduce everything aft of the main hold to slag. Render this ship inoperable and then get as close to the main hangar bay as you can. We're going to be bringing a lot of friends." He paused at the entryway, waiting as Ril braced himself then smashed through it. "Good luck, Linebackers. Bring the package home and we'll deal with the rest."

* * *

Ghro snarled as he and his cadre of handpicked guards rushed through the corridors. Everywhere there were panicked crewmen.  _Vyrrums, the lot of them,_  he thought savagely.  _Not worth anything. Let them all die but the Spectre will be my sweet vengeance!_

Casually blasting a sobbing Salarian in the head that took too long to get out of the way he continued towards her quarters.

* * *

Heffi yelped as a hand grabbed her utility belt from behind and yanked her back just as she was about to go around the corner. Shaking her head Jahla waggled her finger at the started Quarian in admonishment.

"Blind Corner. Prime ambush point."

"Agreed little one," Holdrek rumbled as he joined them. "One more junction and then a service corridor up a deck and we should reach her." He cautiously waved a hand out past the corner and quickly pulled it back to avoid the torrent of fire. "Plan?"

"Burn 'em all!" Manda screamed in rage as she catapulted around the corner, her wild biotic corona flickering alarmingly as the startled defenders began to fire. With another yell she surged forward in a biotic charge and pulsed in the middle of the tightly packed group sending them tumbling away.

"Or we could just follow the psycho," Jahla deadpanned as she whipped around the edge and took a shot at one of the slavers who was trying to recover. Her companion mech bounded up the hall, electricity arcing, as he barreled into two more.

The Quarian and Krogan belatedly joined her in the cleanup of the carnage left in Manda's wake.

* * *

"You hear that?" Avidan's voice held both traces of amusement and concern. "Now that's definitely one pissed off woman. What the hell did you do, LT?"

"Beats me," Sebastian sighed. He had been wracking his memories the entire slog through the halls since the hangar bay trying to remember what he could have done to warrant such a hostile reaction. Nothing even remotely close had come to mind. He held up his fist and chopped his hand towards the next bulkhead.

"Other side of that bulkhead is a short hallway and then the room that this Spectre is supposed to be held. Anyone care to wager that there's a whole lot of pain waiting behind it?" He smirked as not a single hand raised.

"Okay then here's the plan. Standard breach formation. Baez and Avidan, Fortify up and rush with Onyumbo and myself as close support. Johnson. As always. Do what you do best."

The Corporal brought up her Tech Armor routine, encasing herself and Avidan in an orange glow. She then slapped an override on the bulkhead control.

"In five!" She yelled as she quickly took up position.

With a few sparks and a hiss the hatch slid open and with a roar they rushed forwards to engage the group of seven defenders taking cover behind a hastily erected barricade of chairs and bed frames.

"For the Pillars!" A Batarian yelled as he took aim. His visor shattered as a high powered sniper round whipped from behind the charging more shots followed in rapid succession, each a perfect headshot, before the shotgun and assault rifle blasts took out the rest.

"Really Johnson?" Onyumbo muttered as he idly kicked one of dead slavers to the side. "Only four headshots? Expected at least five." He sniffed disdainfully. "You're slipping man."

Johnson's high pitched laugh echoed as they regrouped. Sebastian pointed at the hatch.

"This is it kids. Reading one Asari life sign inside and five others just entering from the adjoining side. Given that they're all Batarian I'm assuming hostile. Breach the hatchway and we'll take them on from the entrance."

Ghro heard the blast from the hatchway at the same time Lasiira did. Snarling, he pushed two of his startled bodyguards forwards to be shield him from the incoming fire as he rushed at the injured Spectre. Her collar was off, to his surprise, and she flared with biotic energy as she struggled to stand and meet him head on.

Time seemed to slow.

Baez pushed forwards into the room, tech shields taking the brunt of the incoming fire as her shotgun blasted the Batarian on the left and Sebastian brought down the one to the right with a rapid burst of his assault rifle.

Her arm flicked forwards and an incendiary sailed towards the opposite hatch and caught the other two Batarians as they tried to enter.

They quickly fell back, content to try and take potshots from the hall.

Sebastian yelled in denial as the largest Batarian he had ever seen plunged a dagger into the naked chest of the Asari that he had pinned against the wall.

The lieutenant rushed forwards, ramming him out of the way, as he grabbed her before she could a quick click of his helmet he opened the visor and smiled at her. At this moment she was the most beautiful being he had ever seen.

"Stay with me'" he pleaded. She looked deep into his eyes and nodded, utterly entranced.

"LT, look out!"

With a roar, Ghro stood and leveled a massive pistol at Sebastian's back and fired. Even as the squads shots ripped away at his shields he kept shooting until the Marine sagged, blood pouring from multiple wounds.

The Captain managed to stagger back through the hatchway, shields even taking several head shots, before it sealed shut behind him.

Lasiira's hands came up to cup Sebastian's face as the eyes slowly began to cloud and blood foamed from his lips.

"I-I'm sorry," he managed, looking down. She laughed internally in irony as she followed his gaze and saw that one shot had gone right through him and into her.

Hands tried to pull them apart as his squad moved in. As the life dimmed in his eyes she could feel her own ebbing as well.

Dazedly, she pulled the dagger out of her chest.

With a final strangled cry she pushed them away with a biotic pulse and latched onto the lieutenant.

 _You will live!_  She mind screamed as she curled around him.  _Embrace Eternity!_

Together they collapsed to the floor, locked in an embrace.

* * *

**Serkah** -  _Krogan Expletive_

 **Vyrrum** -  _Small Batarian rodent. Known for running blindly in any direction when panicked_

* * *

**A/N**

_Hi Lasiira!_ _And bye Lasiira?_ _Is this the end already? Did they just start Snu Snu? Yes! DEATH BY SNU SNU! Someone please know where that comes from..._ _Just messin' with you!_ _Learned some things writing this chapter. Mainly that I suck at combat writing and never to type for three hours straight without saving as lightning storms are a bitch on power and poof. Buhbye ninety percent of my chapter!_ _Not so fun times lol._

_Thanks to Tusken1602 at Fanfiction.net for editing and, as always, please read and review!_

_Seabo76_


	7. Savin' Me

_Show me what it's like_

_To be the last one standing_

_And teach me wrong from right_

_And I'll show you what I can be_

_And say it for me, say it to me_

_And I'll leave this life behind me_

_Say it if it's worth savin' me, hurry, I'm fallin'_

**Savin' Me by Nickelback**

There was no pain.

There was no darkness.

There was no light.

There was only grey.

Sebastian floated in the void.  _Am I dead?_

The musical chime of laughter surrounded him.

_Not yet my savior. Neither of us will be dying any time soon. Although we are going to be stuck here for a while yet._

The voice that reverberated in his mind was light, sultry and ageless. A form coalesced before him, slowly gaining solidity, into a beautifully toned, purple hued blue Asari completely nude. Sebastian eyed her appreciatively, his own body reacting, before realizing that he also was 'in his birthday suit' as his mother used to call it.

Embarrassed he tried to cover himself and look away as the Maiden laughed again.  _Relax young one, will this help?_  At a gesture they were both wrapped in brilliant white togas. She swung her arms wide and twirled, causing hers to whirl dazzlingly around her.  _Definitely one of the better dressed periods of your history,_  came the amused thought.

Sebastian slowly flailed through the nothingness towards her and she stretched out a hand to grasp his.

_Where are we? And are you Lasiira?_

_I am Lasiira. And you are Sebastian Shepard. Pleased to 'speak' to you._  She smiled and turned him around as the surroundings morphed into a stunning beach on an ocean that disappeared on the horizon. Right in front of them was a simple thatched gazebo with two lounge chairs.  _As to 'where' we are that's going to take a bit of an explanation. Shall we sit?_

As they settled themselves across from each other the Maiden removed her toga and stretched luxuriously as the rays of sunlight caused exotic bands to ripple across her skin.  _Sorry Sebastian. I am an exhibitionist at heart and love the feel of the sunlight on my skin. This is the shores of the Caldorei, largest ocean on my home of Thessia. Have you heard of it?_

Sebastian leaned back on his lounge chair and tried to focus on the rolling surf, only to fail miserably. Sighing, he again looked at the beautiful Asari.  _Vaguely. Kind of like an Eden and the home world of the Asari? Whole lot of water and huge temples is what I heard._

 _Close enough_ , she laughed again.  _Of course, we are not truly there. We are not dead and yet we are not truly alive_   _either._  She leaned forward, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as she gazed back at him.  _Do you know of the Siari belief?_  He shook his head.  _Siarists see the Universe as alive and believe it has a consciousness. Everything is connected to this consciousness, whether it be a mote of microscopic life or one of the mythical Karakka rumored to still exist in the depths of Thessia's oceans. When an Asari Melds with someone they both tap into that current of thought, able to manipulate it and thrive in it together and, if they so choose, to create life. But they are only in the shallows, barely getting their feet wet. Some have learned to immerse themselves deep within those currents that bind us all and, through the Meld, use it to heal themselves and others and also to send messages across great distances to others who are also attuned._

She sighed sadly as her eyes cast down. Pain and sadness radiated from her in waves. Sebastian yearned to embrace her but he held himself back. She needed to unburden herself and he silently let her continue.

_What was done to me will never be fully healed. Ghro has seen to that. I will never talk again beyond a deep rasp. I will also never be able to carry a child of my own. I am damaged and will never be whole again. But I. Will. Live._

Lasiira stood, reaching out her hand and beckoning to him.  _Walk with me please?_

He took her hand and she wrapped her arms around his as they began to walk along the shore. The waters pushed just high enough to cover their ankles, warm and soft, before receding. Everything was so, beautiful.

 _I feel your contentment Sebastian. I also feel your confusion and,_  she stopped for a moment and brought her hand up to caress his cheek before turning it to look at her.  _Your arousal_.

She laughed as he tried to stammer a response, all the while turning a lovely shade of red.

_Peace my gallant warrior. It's a natural side effect of being linked this way. It is how we Asari reproduce after all!_

_This is my haven. My safe place. I have taken my lovers here and I've retreated here when I've suffered loss or been in pain. It was also where I would meet with my sister and we could talk even if we were light years apart. It was her that I reached out to when I was first taken. She set the wheels in motion that led to my rescue. She was also there for me at the beginning, helping me cope with him a-and what he had done. But then she went silent. I don't know what had happened but I could no longer feel her presence and I was alone. Alone with that- that...MONSTER!_

Her self-control slipped and they both staggered as Sebastian was overwhelmed by vivid flashes of endless sequences of torture, rape and mutilation of both Lasiira and innocents that she had been forced to watch. The intense loathing, pain and anger drove him to his knees. Lasiira was rigid, expression twisted and ugly as she also relived the horror.

 _Lasiira!_  He flailed.  _You need to pull out of it! You're spiraling out of control!_

The sky had gone dark and the ocean began to churn menacingly. A powerful wind tore away the gazebo and lounge chairs, narrowly missing the pair, and swept them out to sea. His toga was also ripped away, swirling away into the maelstrom. Shadows whirled around them, shapes forming and disappearing, as the very air moaned and screamed.

Desperately, he used her body to pull himself to his feet and pressed himself against her. Holding her face he kissed her, deeply and intensely. The tension he felt melted away as she let out a strangled cry and urgently returned it. Her tears mingled with his as they coiled around each other and fell to the sand. Slowly, almost grudgingly, the chaos around them subsided. Breaking their embrace she moved slightly to rest her head on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her.

_I'm so sorry. I've been damaged far more than I realized possible. I brought you here to save you and keep us both safe while we healed but now I realize that the damage to my mind could destroy us. I've become trapped in my own dark horror and I've locked you in with me._

Memories, not his own, flooded through his mind as he brought his hand up and trailed along her cheek up to her crest. Her muscles relaxed and she let out a soft sigh of contentment.

_Do not blame yourself Lasiira. This is not your fault. What you have lived through is unimaginable and you survived! We will get through this. Together._

He slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position, supporting her as he did so and gently pushed her away so she was facing him.

_Now, what do we need to do to mend this._

Lasiira's eyes were wide and vulnerable as she looked into his. For that moment she seemed young and innocent, not a centuries old battle hardened Huntress.

 _You must know Sebastian that I never thought this would happen. I thought that I was in control. That I could come back from whatever he could force upon me without any permanent psychological damage. I was so wrong. We must merge our minds. Become so intimately attuned that our thoughts become one. You will 'see' and 'feel' everything that has ever happened to me and I_   _will experience the same of you_. She hesitantly brought her hand and offered it to him.  _Once we begin this there is no turning back. I have never attempted this before and was warned by my mentors of the dangers involved. We risk oblivion together or we may find salvation. I don't know what will happen but, I'm willing to find out._

The Marine smiled at her as he brought his hand up to cover hers.

_Oo-rah!_

Their world exploded in a riot of emotion and sound.

* * *

 **Krakkara** -  _Mythical beast said to inhabit the depths of Thessia's oceans_

 **A/N** -  _One of my favorite songs._

_Just had to throw the chorus at the beginning of this as I feel it describes the point of this chapter._

_A little on the short side but, hopefully, a lot of emotional impact. How much trauma can one soul suffer before it just can't take anymore? What if someone has just seemed to give up but is actually desperately flailing for help? What lengths would you go to save another life?_

_If you were good you would save them but if you did not want to risk your own life does that make you a bad person? Not so black and white is it. Whole lot of grey area there._ _Oh look! Title reference! Between the darkness and the light...go figure._

_Now, as far as Lasiira and Sebastian emerging from this joined at the hip and bestest bosom buddies forever?_

_._

_.._

_..._

_Maybe?_

_Muahahahahaha_

_Thanks for reading and please leave a review! I really would like to know what you think!_

_Seabo76_


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